Keepers of the Western Forest

by Chris Kennedy

  Chapter 30

   

  The foredeck where he lay was already warm from the morning sun when Brynn woke up, rubbing the sleep out of his eyes. Broderic stood next to him bow in hand, staring off to starboard.

  “What is it?”

  “Land,” Broderic said. “Our journey is almost over.”

  On the afterdeck by the steering-oar, Darin and the captain were both looking in the same direction, as were the rest of the crew. Brynn stood up and went to the very prow of the ship, holding on to the gunwale.

  The rocky coastline was now not far away. He watched spellbound as cliffs and coves passed by on his right; up ahead he could make out golden sands, the sweep of a wide bay. The Petrel was pulling in towards the coast, however, and the distant sandy beach soon disappeared behind a high cliff. At the foot of the cliff lay a narrow, sheltered cove. Brynn realized that this was what they were making for. Suddenly, he had the inexplicable sense that he was coming home, that his destiny was tied up somehow with this mysterious land he had heard the sailors talking about when he was a child. His head reeled as he told himself he was now looking at it with his own eyes.

  He was startled out of his reverie by a sudden violent splash beside him on the right and then another to his left. He had just time to note an arched back, wet and gleaming in the bright sun, before the creatures plunged back beneath the waves. He heard one of the sailors cry—“Dolphins!”

  Dolphins! He remembered the stories he had heard about these magical, intelligent creatures; how it was said they had rescued shipwrecked sailors, carrying them on their backs to the shore. He knew that their appearance was supposed to be a good omen—and here were two of them, leaping and plunging as they kept pace with the ship!

  Once again, he felt with uncanny certainty that destiny was at work. It was if the dolphins were aware of him, were reaching out to him. He had the strange sensation that their minds were moving in his own. He whipped round to face Broderic. “Isn’t it wonderful! I just know something marvellous is going to happen to us all.”

  Broderic clapped a hand on his shoulder. “I hope you’re right.” He turned and started toward the afterdeck where Darin stood, deep in conversation with the captain. Brynn followed.

  Darin explained to them why it was they must land secretly in the little cove ahead of them, rather than sail on to the bay where Sultan al-Din’s harbour and the palace were.

  Broderic scowled at the captain. “So, your past crimes are catching up with you! I’m surprised you agreed to bring us here, if you’re a wanted man in these parts.”

  “He had no intention of coming here at all,” said Darin. “Remember, if Brynn hadn’t overheard them plotting, we’d have been dumped overboard and they could have gone anywhere they liked.”

  Broderic scowled again. “Well, if you don’t finish the job and get us safely back home, you’ll not see one coin of our gold. And if you ever set foot in Arthur’s kingdom again, I’ll make sure you’re tried for high treason!”

  “Aye, aye,” muttered the captain. “But if they come for me, I shall have to put to sea again. Signal me when you have spoken with Sultan al-Din and got him to agree safe conduct for me and my crew.”

  The ship was now nosing its way into the cove, sail furled, the men at their stations rowing silently. On either side, high cliffs loomed; directly ahead, Brynn could see a patch of shingle from which a steep rocky path led up through a fissure to the high ground above.

  “We’re going to have to beach it,” said the captain.

  There was a light jolt and a crunching sound as the shallow prow of the ship drove into loose pebbles. Two sailors immediately jumped over the gunwale and splashed ashore carrying ropes and anchors, which they dug into the beach. The rest of the crew then left the ship and helped drag it a few feet further out of the water. Brynn took charge of the horses and coaxed them over the ramps. Soon the whole party was safely ashore.

  Darin and Broderic had decided to present themselves at Sultan al-Din’s court in their full regalia as Arthur’s knights. They wore surcoats over their mail hauberks and they had their shields slung on their backs. They were attaching their helmets to their saddles when the captain approached them.

  “They would have been here by now if they had seen us.” His narrowed eyes flicked from side to side, scanning the cliff tops. “Perhaps we had better make use of this opportunity to get in some supplies. We can’t even get through the rest of the day without more food and water. I’ll send my two mates—they’ve been here before, they know the lie of the land. But they’ll need silver.”

  Broderic handed over some coins and the captain passed them to the first mate.

  “There you are, lads,” he said. “And why don’t you take a look at the old shed we stored the stuff in last time we were here? Maybe that cart is still there.”

  Brynn watched as the two sailors started up the rocky path. After exchanging a few more words with the captain, the three friends, with Dart and River in tow, set off up the track after them, leaving the five remaining seamen behind with the ship. Not a word was spoken as they toiled up the steep path and they were all a little out of breath by the time they reached the top and emerged into bright sunlight.

  Brynn’s eyes opened wide in wonder at the vista before him. A broad, scrubby plateau, dotted here and there with clusters of gnarled and twisted little trees, sloped gently away from them inland. To their right, a much steeper incline swept down to the wide sandy bay he had glimpsed earlier. About half way, the incline flattened out for a while into a small plain before finally dropping down to the bay. This plain marked the nearest corner of a great wall of red stone that surrounded a city the like of which he had never imagined. Thousands of houses, white, orange and red, clustered along the coast and climbed the hill; narrow streets threaded their way through the warren, disappearing and re-emerging as they burrowed under arches where adjoining house-roofs met. At the highest point of the city stood a magnificent palace, with an open, paved area in front of it. The whole bay glittered under the sun, with its yellow sands and sea of a deep blue he had never witnessed from the cliffs at home.

  There was a gate in the corner of the wall closest to them, but a far grander one was visible at the near end of the bay, where the fortifications of the city looked out over the sands. Opposite it, many ships lay at anchor, whilst hundreds of people swarmed in colourful throngs around the piers and jetties of the harbour.

  Broderic glanced back down at their own ship in the cove and then along the cliff top, to where the two mates were sitting on a rock a little distance away, presumably regaining their breath before heading off in search of supplies. “I think we should let ourselves be seen entering the city by the main gate, there below,” he said. “It will give the palace plenty of warning that we are here on important business. We must show every courtesy to Sultan al-Din and his people.”

  “Certainly,” replied Darin. He frowned. “I don’t like leaving the Petrel unwatched, though. Brynn, I think you should stay here and keep an eye on the cove. If the captain puts out to sea, we’ll know better which way he has gone. Don’t worry, we’ll come back for you soon.”

  “That’s not fair! I want to see this wonderful city too.”

  “Let us establish contact with Sultan al-Din first,” said Broderic. “You’ll see everything then, I promise.”

  The two knights mounted their horses. Brynn fought back his disappointment and watched Dart and River canter off down the slope—both horses were clearly glad to be on firm ground once more. Then he looked over to where the two mates had been sitting. The tall, dark one was now on his feet, ready to get going, but the other, a sturdy, round-faced man of middle age, still sat on the rock, looking out to sea. Now he tugged at his companion’s sleeve and pointed, shouting something.

  Two galleys had appeared at the mouth of the cove. Even as their sails were being reefed in, Brynn could see men swarming over the sides and into two longboats. Within seconds,
they were racing towards the beached ship, many pairs of oars rising and falling together like the wings of some great sea bird.

  “Broderic!” Brynn yelled. “Darin!”

  It was too late—they were already halfway down the slope to the plain and the beginning of the city walls. He turned his attention back to the scene below.

  On the beach, the captain and the sailor with him had seen the boats full of armed men. They began running towards the steep path, the only way out of the cove. The other three sailors, who had been busy with something on the deck of the ship, jumped overboard and stumbled to the beach. They were scarcely ashore when the first boat reached the Petrel. A party of warriors in brightly coloured coats and turbans charged with lightening speed through the shallow water and onto the shingle. They soon caught up with the three sailors; some of the party seized hold of them while the rest rushed on in pursuit of the captain and his companion.

  Brynn glanced over at the rock where the two mates had been sitting, but they were gone. Now he watched as the captain and the remaining sailor reached the rocky path and began desperately scrambling up it. The steep hill slowed them down considerably and the gap between them and their pursuers began to close. One of the warriors stopped and stood still. Brynn saw him raise a bow, shorter and more curved than his own longbow, and the captain fell to the ground, clutching his shoulder. The sailor with him paused irresolutely for a moment and the chase was over. Within a few minutes of the appearance of the ships at the opening of the cove, the captain and all his crew were being shepherded into the longboats.

  During all this, men from the second boat had been busy pouring something over the decks of the Petrel. Brynn now noticed a thin plume of black smoke, then a lick of flame. Within seconds, the fire spread across the decks; the mast was instantly transformed into a fierce candle of flame and the sail caught light, scattering burning fragments into the sea. Brynn watched aghast as the ship that had carried him there was consumed before his eyes.

  He turned to look down the hill after Darin and Broderic. They had just reached the level area near the start of the city walls. Suddenly, three horsemen appeared at the other side of the plain; evidently they had just ridden up the hill from the beach. The glint of steel told Brynn they were wearing chain-mail.

  He gasped. Even at that distance, Agravain’s colours were clearly recognizable.